William Moreton Condry

William Moreton Condry
Born	(1918-03-01)1 March 1918 Birmingham, England
Died	30 May 1998(1998-05-30) (aged 80) Morriston Hospital
Nationality	English
Other names	Bill Condry
Occupation	Naturalist
Known for	First warden at Ynys-hir

William Moreton Condry MA, MSc (1 March 1918 – 30 May 1998), or Bill Condry as he was often known, was a naturalist who was born in Birmingham, England.

He earned degrees from the University of Birmingham, in French, from the University of London, in Latin, and from Aberystwyth University, in history.

Like his parents, he was a pacifist, and, being a conscientious objector worked as a forester in Herefordshire during World War II. He married a woman called Penny in 1946. The next year the West Wales Field Society (later the Dyfed Wildlife Trust) appointed him as their warden for Mid Wales, a post he held until 1956. He also edited their journal, Field Notes.

He was warden at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds's Ynys-hir reserve from its inception in 1969, until his in 1982, he and Penny having lived at Ynys Edwin cottage there since 1959 at the invitation of Hugh Mapin, the owner of the estate. Condry was one of the main forces in the preservation of the red kite in Wales. He wrote many guides and nature books, including two volumes in Collins' New Naturalist series, Snowdonia National Park (1966) and The Natural History of Wales (1984). Pathway to the Wild (1975) and Wildlife My Life (1995) are autobiographical.

He contributed, fortnightly, to the The Guardian's Country Diary column for over forty years, and appeared on several BBC Radio programmes.

He received an honorary MSc from the University of Wales in 1980, and held the position of Vice President of the West Wales Naturalists' Trust from 1982.

He died from kidney failure on 30 May 1998, at Morriston Hospital. Following cremation at Aberystwyth, his ashes were scattered on Cadair Idris. The William Condry Memorial Lecture is held annually in his honour, and a hide at Ynys-hir is named after him.

Works

• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1954). Thoreau. Witherby. ISBN 978-0854930425. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1966). Snowdonia National Park. Collins. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1967). Birds and Wild Africa. ISBN 978-0002110754. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1972). Exploring Wales. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571099221. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1972). Countryside Birds. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. ISBN 978-0903138024. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1975). Pathway to the Wild. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571099344. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1977). World of a Mountain. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571107797. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1982). The Natural History of Wales. Collins. ISBN 978-0002195683. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1987). Snowdonia. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0715387344. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1991). Wales. Gomer Press. ISBN 978-0863837814. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1993). Welsh Country Diary. Gomer Press. ISBN 978-0863838729. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1993). Wildlife in our Welsh Parish. Egwlys Fach Womens Institute. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1995). Wildlife, My Life. Gomer Press. ISBN 9781859021828. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1996). Welsh Country Essays. Gomer Press. ISBN 978-1859023952. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1998). Wild Flower Safari: The Life of Mary Richards. Gomer Press. ISBN 9781859025581. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (1998). Heart of the Country: A Photographic Diary of Wales. Gomer Press. ISBN 978-1859025581. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Condry, Wiliam Moreon (2015). A William Condry Reader. Gomer Press. ISBN 978-1848518834. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)